The Rams have one of the NFL’s worst defenses, are missing two Pro Bowl wide receivers and are headed to Soldier Field as slight underdogs against the Bears on Sunday.
But it’s hard to ever think of Sean McVay and Matt Stafford as underdogs. For all the Rams’ problems, they’ve still got an advantage over the Bears in the two most crucial spots: head coach and quarterback.
Caleb Williams might one day put together a career that exceeds Stafford, but for now he’s miles behind a player he grew up admiring. Williams, with self-awareness and a half-joking apology to Bears fans, has listed longtime foes Aaron Rodgers and Stafford as his two favorite quarterbacks.
And McVay comes to town a week after Matt Eberflus got outcoached by… himself? Eberflus, with all too much assistance from offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, self-sabotaged throughout the Bears’ 21-16 loss to the lowly Colts last week while McVay pulled an upset over the 49ers.
At just 38, McVay remains the most coveted coach in the NFL. No makeover necessary here. He was born cool.
Eberflus has 11 wins in his career, a number McVay reached as a 31-year-old rookie head coach in 2017 on his way to averaging 10 victories per season for his career and winning Super Bowl LVI when the Rams landed Stafford from the Lions going into 2021.
His moves are smarter and quicker than anyone’s, and he gets defenses guessing with a lot of pre-snap motion, and Eberflus called him great at forcing defensive lines to be perfect and exploiting potential miscommunications in the secondary. He went on about McVay’s short-yardage plays, two-minute drills and various other strengths, but the point is he’s good at everything.
“Couple that with the quarterback that he has to operate that offense, and it’s good,” Eberflus said. “They’re down weapons and all that stuff, but they found a way to move the ball effectively last week to get the victory.”
Waldron coached under McVay in various roles, including passing game coordinator, from 2017 through ’20, and that was part of what drew the Bears to him. But the magic doesn’t appear to have transferred yet. That logic backfired on the Bears two years ago when they jumped at the chance to poach Luke Getsy from Matt LaFleur’s staff.
And then there’s Stafford, who simply never goes away. This will be his 22nd game against the Bears, and, despite playing most of his career for the then-laughable Lions, he’s 12-9.
The Bears always seem happy to see him, especially the defensive backs, and that’s curious. While it’s true Stafford is a gunslinger with zero hesitation to take big risks, he often cashes in with big rewards.
“He knows where the defensive players are going to be, so he can move them on a string,” Williams said when asked why he admired Stafford, who was the No. 1 overall pick 15 years before he was. “Watching him be able to move defenders, be able to move and maneuver in the pocket and still deliver some nice passes down the field… He’s been doing it for a while.
“Watching someone like that who has the success that he’s had, you want to learn from that. It’s going to be exciting.”
Williams is fresh off throwing for 363 yards last week, though with some asterisks. Stafford, meanwhile, has hit or topped that number 23 times, including in three games against the Bears and three in the playoffs. It’ll be much different for the Bears than the second-year quarterbacks they faced in each of the first three games.
Even if the Rams are limping, they’re dangerous. The Bears thought everything was stacked in their favor a year ago as the Broncos staggered in, then got outfoxed by Sean Payton and Russell Wilson. We’ll see how far they’ve really come since then.